Flashback: Kutcher & Murphy Are 'Just Married'

By ROBERT PACE

March 12, 2013

On this day in 2002, Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy were filming the romantic comedy Just Married, a film that thrived at the box office despite harsh reviews from the critics. Taking a break from the set, the two have a lighthearted interview with ET.

The two, who dated for a brief period after the film's production concluded, give their own takes on marriage as they look towards their futures.

"I just decided that I don't think I could elope after this," the late Murphy says, suggesting that she would prefer a proper marriage. "I was nervous this morning. I really love this very much. This is a really good test run and I know that I need to do this in my life again."

While Murphy and Kutcher, both 24 years old at the time, had yet to marry in the real lives, they revealed similar experiences parallel with undergoing a real wedding ceremony. It may have been just a movie shoot, but it felt real to both of them.

"I actually got nervous," Kutcher recalls. "I came [to the set] and [the crew] was like...'You can't look at Brittany,' and I was like, 'Oh my God! This is real!'...I got really frightened...and then she walked into the make-up room and I was in there and I was like, 'No, no, no! I can't see her!'"

While Murphy had been acting for a while, establishing herself in the industry with films like Clueless and Girl, Interrupted, Kutcher was on the verge of gaining traction in the film industry.

Although he had landed a role in the comedy film Dude, Where's My Car? shortly after securing a main role on That '70s Show, it wasn't until his lead role in Just Married that Kutcher received widespread recognition.

As he continues on about the real emotions he experienced preparing for his faux wedding, Kutcher provides some foreshadowing for his romantic interest in Murphy in the real world.

"I started coming to this [realization] where I was like, 'Wow! I have to spend the rest of my life with this woman!' he says to an outburst of laughter from his co-star. "...That's the one thing I think that guys think of when [the wedding] is about to happen. ...I had to ask myself that, and I was looking in the mirror [thinking], 'Yeah, I'm cool with that.'"

After dating each other for a few months, both would marry in the future. Kutcher went on to marry Demi Moore two years later, and Murphy was married in 2007 to screenwriter Simon Monjack, with whom she remained until her passing in 2009.